PART 5 — THE DNA REPORT THAT CHANGED EVERYTHING
“Now you finally understand why I lied.”
Eric’s voice came through the phone almost calmly.
That scared me more than if he had been shouting.
I looked at Mae.
She had gone completely white.
Daniel Mercer.
Rose.
The DNA report.
Eric not being Rose’s biological father.
Nothing fit anymore.
“No,” I said. “I understand that you’ve lied so many times I don’t know which lie you’re talking about.”
Eric exhaled.
“Natalie, listen carefully.”
“I’ve been listening carefully for nine years. That was my mistake.”
“This is bigger than our marriage.”
“You forged my signature on a home equity loan.”
Silence.
“You secretly changed our daughter’s name.”
Silence.
“You helped your mother keep Mae’s child from her.”
“Natalie—”
“You lied in court about knowing Rose.”
“You don’t understand what happened.”
“Then explain it.”
His voice dropped.
“Not over the phone.”
I looked around the room.
Mae.
Caleb.
Emily.
Caroline.
The security officer.
Witnesses.
Exactly what Eric hated.
“No,” I said. “Over the phone is perfect.”
“Natalie.”
“Who is Rose’s father?”
Eric said nothing.
“Daniel?”
Still nothing.
“Is Daniel Mercer Rose’s father?”
“I’m asking you to stop.”
“That sounds like yes.”
“You’re making assumptions.”
“That sounds even more like yes.”
Mae suddenly stood.
“Give me the phone.”
I shook my head.
She held out her hand.
“Natalie.”
There was something in her face.
Not anger.
Recognition.
I switched to speaker.
Mae stepped closer.
“Eric.”
The silence on his end changed.
“Mae.”
“Did you know?”
He did not answer.
Mae’s voice trembled.
“Did you know Daniel was Rose’s father?”
“Mae, this isn’t the time.”
She laughed once.
It was a terrible sound.
“I buried my daughter in my head for six years.”
Caleb lowered his eyes.
Mae continued.
“I woke up every birthday thinking about a child I believed was dead. I walked past little girls in grocery stores and wondered what she would have looked like. I kept her hospital bracelet in a box because I thought it was all I had left.”
Her voice cracked.
“And you’re telling me this isn’t the time?”
Eric said, “I was trying to protect you.”
Mae closed her eyes.
I had heard that sentence from him before.
Protect.
Eric loved that word.
It made control sound generous.
“Protect me from what?”
“Daniel.”
Her eyes opened.
“Why?”
Eric stayed silent.
Mae stepped closer to the phone as though proximity might force him to answer.
“Why, Eric?”
“Because Daniel didn’t want the baby.”
Every person in the room froze.
Mae’s mouth opened.
No sound came out.
Then she whispered, “Daniel knew?”
“Yes.”
“How long?”
“From the beginning.”
Mae stumbled backward and sat.
Caleb moved beside her.
She took his hand without looking away from my phone.
“I never slept with Daniel.”
Eric said nothing.
Mae’s face changed.
“I never slept with him.”
“Nobody said you did.”
“Then explain the DNA report.”
“I can’t.”
“You just said he didn’t want the baby.”
“I said too much already.”
Something cold traveled through me.
I asked, “Was the DNA report fake?”
Eric went quiet.
Mae looked at me.
I repeated it.
“Eric, was that report fake?”
“I don’t know what report they found.”
“It has Rose’s name.”
“That doesn’t mean anything.”
“It says you’re excluded as the biological father.”
“I told you. I don’t know what they found.”
I heard an engine in the background.
“You’re driving.”
“No.”
“Yes, you are.”
“Natalie, stop trying to—”
“Where are you?”
The line went dead.
Emily immediately said, “He doesn’t want us to know where he’s going.”
The security officer radioed the officers at the cabin.
I looked at Mae.
“Did you ever have a DNA test done?”
“No.”
“Not during pregnancy?”
“No.”
“After Rose was born?”
“No.”
“Did Eric?”
“I don’t know.”
Caleb squeezed his mother’s hand.
Then he said quietly, “Dad has DNA kits.”
Everyone looked at him.
“What?”
“At his house.”
My stomach tightened.
“What DNA kits?”
“He keeps them in his office.”
“Have you seen them?”
“Yeah.”
“When?”
“A few months ago.”
“What kind?”
Caleb shrugged.
“Like those home test things. Swabs.”
Mae stared at him.
“Why were you in Eric’s office?”
“I was looking for my birth certificate.”
“Why?”
He looked uncomfortable.
“Dad said I needed it for school.”
That made no sense.
Mae said, “Your school already has it.”
“I know.”
“What did he want it for?”
“I don’t know.”
I asked, “Did he ever swab your mouth?”
Caleb hesitated.
That hesitation answered us before he did.
“Yes.”
Mae shot to her feet.
“When?”
“Last year.”
“WHY?”
“He said it was for ancestry.”
“You never told me.”
“He told me it was a surprise for you.”
Mae pressed both hands against her temples.
I looked at Olivia.
A thought arrived that I immediately wanted to reject.
“Did Eric take anything from Olivia?”
Emily looked at me.
“What do you mean?”
“Hair. Blood. Anything.”
“She’s twelve hours old.”
I looked toward the bassinet.
Then remembered.
Cord blood.
The hospital.
Medical samples.
Paperwork Eric had been “handling.”
I turned to Caroline.
“Who has access to newborn blood samples?”
Her expression sharpened.
“Hospital staff under specific protocols.”
“Can a parent request genetic testing?”
“It depends on the test.”
“Did Eric request anything?”
“I don’t know, but I can ask.”
“Please.”
She left immediately.
Mae was staring at me.
“What are you thinking?”
“I don’t know yet.”
That was true.
But Eric had secretly changed Olivia’s middle name.
He had entered Mae’s phone number.
He had hidden genetic kits.
He had tested Caleb.
There was a DNA report saying he was not Rose’s father.
And somewhere inside all of it was Daniel Mercer.
My phone buzzed.
Laura.
I opened her message.
DO NOT TRUST THE DNA REPORT.
I stared at it.
Then:
I FOUND TWO.
My heart began hammering.
I typed:
TWO WHAT?
TWO REPORTS FOR ROSE.
ONE SAYS ERIC IS NOT THE FATHER.
THE OTHER SAYS SOMETHING ELSE.
Mae stood behind me.
“Ask her what.”
I did.
Laura sent a photograph.
A document laid on a wooden table.
The heading showed a private laboratory.
Below it were rows of genetic markers.
At the bottom:
Probability of Paternity: 99.998%.
Alleged Father: Eric Michael Patterson.
Mae made a choking sound.
I zoomed in.
Different test date.
Different laboratory.
Same child.
Rose Billing.
One report said Eric was excluded.
Another said 99.998%.
Emily whispered, “So one is fake.”
“Or the samples were different.”
Mae looked at me.
“What does that mean?”
Before I could answer, Laura sent:
THE EXCLUSION REPORT WAS THE ONE FILED WITH THE GUARDIANSHIP PAPERS.
THE POSITIVE REPORT WAS HIDDEN IN SUSAN’S SAFE.
There it was.
Eric was Rose’s father.
He had known.
And someone had created or used a contradictory DNA report to hide it.
I typed:
WHO CREATED THE FALSE ONE?
Laura replied:
LOOK AT THE SIGNATURE.
I enlarged the document.
The laboratory director’s signature meant nothing to me.
Then I looked lower.
Chain-of-custody witness:
Daniel Mercer.
My stomach dropped.
Daniel had witnessed the sample collection for the report that excluded Eric.
“Daniel helped fake it,” Emily said.
Mae looked like she might be sick.
“Why?”
I knew one reason.
“Because if Eric wasn’t legally Rose’s father, Susan’s guardianship was easier to control.”
Mae shook her head.
“But why Daniel?”
Nobody answered.
Then Laura sent another message.
DANIEL DIDN’T HELP ERIC FOR FREE.
The next photograph was a bank statement.
One transfer.
$75,000.
From MBR Consulting.
To Mercer Advisory Group.
Dated three days before the false DNA test.
“Seventy-five thousand dollars,” Emily whispered.
I felt something awful click into place.
MBR Consulting had not simply been a secret fund for child support.
It was a payment machine.
Donna.
Lawyers.
Daniel.
Anybody needed to keep Eric’s version of reality intact.
My phone rang.
Laura.
I answered immediately.
“Where are you?”
“Driving to you.”
Her voice sounded breathless.
“Don’t.”
“I’m already halfway there.”
“Eric knows you’ve been helping me.”
“I know.”
“Then don’t come alone.”
“I’m not.”
“Who’s with you?”
A pause.
“Someone you need to meet.”
“Who?”
“I’ll explain when I get there.”
“No more surprises, Laura.”
“I wish I had that option.”
Then she added, “Natalie, Daniel isn’t just Eric’s business partner.”
“What is he?”
“He owns forty percent of the company Eric works for.”
I frowned.
“Eric told me the company was employee-owned.”
“That’s one of the smaller lies.”
“Why does Daniel matter so much?”
“Because Eric didn’t start stealing alone.”
The room went silent.
“Daniel was involved?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“I don’t know the full structure. But the client money started disappearing years ago. Daniel helped move it.”
“So why pay Daniel seventy-five thousand dollars?”
“Because partners become enemies when one has evidence against the other.”
My stomach tightened.
“Daniel blackmailed Eric?”
“Sometimes.”
“Sometimes?”
“They’ve been blackmailing each other for years.”
I closed my eyes.
Of course.
That was Eric’s world.
Not loyalty.
Mutual destruction.
Everyone connected by secrets too dangerous to expose.
Laura continued.
“When Mae got pregnant with Rose, everything became unstable.”
“Why would a baby affect financial crimes?”
“Because Daniel believed Mae knew too much.”
Mae stepped closer to the phone.
“I knew nothing.”
Laura heard her.
“Mae?”
“Yes.”
“I’m sorry.”
“You can apologize later. Tell me why Daniel cared about my pregnancy.”
“Because Eric was talking about leaving the company.”
Mae looked stunned.
“He never told me that.”
“He wasn’t leaving for you.”
“Then why?”
“An audit was coming.”
My stomach dropped.
Laura continued.
“Eric wanted out before anybody noticed the missing money. Daniel told him he wasn’t going anywhere.”
“And Rose?”
“Eric thought having another child gave him leverage to disappear.”
“How?”
“He talked about moving overseas.”
Mae whispered, “He once asked if I’d move to Portugal.”
Laura went quiet.
“When?”
“While I was pregnant.”
“That was it.”
Mae sat down slowly.
“He told me he had a job opportunity.”
“He didn’t.”
Laura’s voice hardened.
“He planned to move money, take you and Caleb, disappear, and leave Daniel holding the fraud.”
“What about me?” I asked.
Silence.
Laura said quietly, “I don’t think you were supposed to come.”
Those words hurt in a completely different way.
I was not the wife he planned to run away with.
I was the wife he intended to leave behind with debt, questions, and probably enough manipulated evidence to make me look responsible for things I had never seen.
“What stopped him?”
“Rose was born early.”
Mae closed her eyes.
Laura continued.
“Then Daniel learned about the plan.”
“And?”
“He threatened Eric.”
“With what?”
“Everything.”
“The theft?”
“The theft. Mae. Caleb. You.”
My stomach turned.
“He knew about me?”
“Daniel knew about everyone.”
Mae suddenly said, “Did Daniel ever come to the NICU?”
Laura hesitated.
“I don’t know.”
Mae’s face changed.
“I remember a man.”
“What man?”
“I thought he was hospital administration.”
“What did he look like?”
“Tall. Gray at the temples. Expensive watch.”
I pulled up Daniel’s photograph.
Mae stared at it.
Her entire body went rigid.
“That’s him.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
“What did he say to you?”
“He asked whether Eric had signed the acknowledgment of paternity.”
The room froze.
“What did you tell him?”
“I said not yet.”
Laura swore softly through the phone.
“What?”
“That was the opening they needed.”
“For what?”
“To make Eric disappear legally from Rose’s life.”
I suddenly understood the sequence.
No acknowledged father.
Mae hospitalized.
Susan stepped in as temporary family guardian.
False DNA report.
Wrong service address.
Eric denied paternity under oath.
Mae was told her baby died.
Then money kept everyone quiet.
It was not one lie.
It was an operation.
I asked, “Whose idea was it?”
Laura answered immediately.
“Daniel’s.”
Mae whispered, “And Eric agreed?”
Laura went silent.
Mae’s voice broke.
“Did Eric agree?”
“Yes.”
Mae folded forward like she had been punched.
Caleb put his arms around her.
I watched them and felt something inside me harden forever against my husband.
He had not simply abandoned Rose.
He had helped erase her.
Caroline returned.
Her expression was serious.
“We checked the orders placed after Olivia’s birth.”
My stomach tightened.
“And?”
“There was a request for additional blood collection.”
“For what?”
“A newborn screening add-on.”
“Requested by whom?”
She held my gaze.
“Eric.”
I felt cold.
“What screening?”
“The order was canceled because the physician hadn’t approved it.”
“What was the test?”
Caroline hesitated.
“Genetic relationship analysis.”
Mae covered her mouth.
Emily whispered, “He tried to run a paternity test?”
Caroline nodded.
“But not only paternity.”
“What do you mean?”
“The request listed three comparative profiles.”
I stared at her.
“Three?”
“Yes.”
“Whose?”
“The paperwork identifies the newborn, the presumed father, and a minor male family member.”
Caleb.
Every person in the room understood.
“Eric was trying to compare Olivia to Caleb.”
Mae stood.
“Why?”
I already knew part of the answer.
“To prove they’re siblings.”
“But he already knows Caleb is his son.”
“Maybe that wasn’t what he was testing.”
Emily frowned.
“What else could a sibling test show?”
I looked at Mae.
Then at Caleb.
Then at the two DNA reports for Rose.
Something about the whole story had bothered me from the beginning.
Eric had tested Caleb last year.
Why?
He already knew Caleb was his.
Unless he was not checking whether Caleb was his son.
Unless he was checking something else.
I asked Mae a question I hated myself for asking.
“Was there ever any doubt about Caleb’s father?”
Her face snapped toward me.
“No.”
“None?”
“None.”
“Eric was the only possibility?”
Mae hesitated.
Just once.
But I saw it.
“Mae.”
She looked at Caleb.
He was twelve.
Old enough to understand far too much.
Mae lowered her voice.
“There was one night.”
Caleb stared at her.
“Mom?”
She closed her eyes.
“I was twenty-seven. I was stupid. Eric and I had broken up for a few weeks.”
“With Daniel?”
“No.”
“Then who?”
She did not answer.
Laura’s voice came through the phone.
“Mae, don’t.”
Mae froze.
Everybody looked at the phone.
“You know?”
Laura said nothing.
Mae whispered, “How do you know?”
“Because Eric found out.”
“Found out what?”
“That you slept with someone else.”
Mae’s face drained.
“I never told him who.”
“He discovered it anyway.”
“Who?” I asked.
Mae shook her head.
“It doesn’t matter.”
“It matters if Eric secretly DNA-tested Caleb.”
She looked at her son.
Caleb whispered, “Mom, who?”
Mae began crying.
“I’m sorry.”
“Who?”
She reached for him.
He pulled back.
That hurt her visibly.
“It happened before I knew I was pregnant.”
“Mom.”
“I truly believed Eric was your father.”
“Believed?”
“He is your father in every way that matters.”
Caleb stood.
“That’s not what I asked.”
His voice sounded so much like Eric’s that I flinched.
“Who was the other man?”
Mae looked at me.
Then at the phone.
Finally she said a name.
“Daniel.”
Silence.
Absolute silence.
I thought I had misheard.
“Daniel Mercer?”
Mae nodded.
Caleb backed away from her.
“No.”
“It was once.”
“No.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Dad’s friend?”
Mae started crying.
“Eric and I were broken up. Daniel was kind to me. I was drunk and angry and—”
Caleb shook his head.
“No.”
I wanted to stop the conversation.
He was a child.
He had already absorbed enough.
But another part of me had just understood why Eric tested him.
Why Daniel cared about Mae.
Why two men had spent twelve years protecting and threatening each other.
“Did Eric get the result?” I asked Caroline.
“What result?”
“Caleb’s DNA kit from last year.”
“I wouldn’t know.”
Mae suddenly grabbed her phone.
“I might.”
She opened her email.
Searched.
Scrolled.
Then stopped.
“What?”
“Last year Eric asked me to sign a consent form.”
“For the ancestry test?”
“Yes.”
“Do you still have it?”
She opened an attachment.
It was not from an ancestry company.
It was from the same private laboratory listed on Rose’s positive paternity test.
My pulse accelerated.
“What does it say?”
Mae scrolled.
“Relationship analysis.”
“Between?”
“It doesn’t list another name.”
“Reference number?”
She read it aloud.
Laura went silent.
Then said, “Wait.”
We heard movement.
Paper.
A drawer.
Then Laura breathed, “Oh my God.”
“What?”
“I have a report with that number.”
Mae’s hands started shaking.
“Read it.”
Laura did not.
“Laura.”
“I don’t want Caleb hearing this.”
Caleb stepped forward.
“It’s about me.”
“Sweetheart—”
“READ IT.”
Laura exhaled.
“The tested adult is Daniel Mercer.”
Caleb’s face emptied.
Mae whispered, “Probability?”
Laura began crying.
Nobody needed the number anymore.
But Caleb asked.
“Probability?”
“99.97 percent.”
Caleb turned away.
His shoulders trembled.
Mae reached for him.
“Caleb.”
“Don’t.”
“Please.”
“So Dad isn’t my dad?”
The question destroyed the room.
Mae stood behind him, crying.
“I didn’t know.”
“You said you knew.”
“I believed.”
“You lied too.”
“No. Not about this.”
He turned.
“Everybody lies.”
That sentence came from a twelve-year-old boy who had every reason to believe it.
He grabbed his backpack.
The security officer blocked the door gently.
“Hey. You don’t need to go anywhere.”
“Move.”
“Not until we know you’re safe.”
“I want to leave.”
Mae cried, “Caleb, please.”
He looked at her with tears streaming down his face.
“Does he know?”
“Who?”
“Eric.”
Nobody answered.
Laura finally said, “Yes.”
Caleb stared at the phone.
“How long?”
“A year.”
His knees seemed to weaken.
He sat again.
Eric had discovered that the boy he raised in secret was not biologically his.
Daniel’s son.
And yet he said nothing.
Why?
Because Caleb was leverage.
Against Mae.
Against Daniel.
Against Susan.
Maybe against everyone.
My phone rang again.
Unknown number.
I answered cautiously.
“Mrs. Patterson?”
“Yes.”
“This is Detective Ramos with county police. I’m at the lake property.”
I sat straighter.
“Is Rose safe?”
“She’s safe.”
Mae moved closer.
“Can I speak to her?”
“Not yet, ma’am. Child services has been contacted. We need to follow procedure.”
Mae nodded even though he could not see her.
“I understand.”
The detective continued.
“Mrs. Patterson, we recovered documents matching what you described.”
“The blue box?”
“Yes.”
“And Daniel?”
“He’s here.”
“Why?”
“We’re determining that.”
“Is Susan there?”
“Yes.”
“Eric?”
“No.”
My pulse quickened.
“He was driving somewhere.”
“We have officers looking for him.”
“Detective, he knows about the cabin.”
“We’re aware.”
Then the detective paused.
“There’s something else.”
Every time someone said those words tonight, my life got worse.
“What?”
“We found a firearm in Mr. Mercer’s vehicle.”
Mae tightened her grip on the bed rail.
“Was he threatening Susan?”
“We don’t know yet.”
“Rose?”
“No indication the child was harmed.”
I exhaled.
“Why was Daniel there?”
“He says Susan called him.”
“Why?”
“He claims she intended to give him documents.”
“The evidence against Eric?”
“That appears to be part of it.”
“Part?”
The detective hesitated.
Then asked, “Mrs. Patterson, does the name Patterson Family Holdings mean anything to you?”
“No.”
Mae shook her head.
Emily did too.
“Why?”
“Because several documents in the box list you as a fifty-percent owner.”
I almost laughed.
“That’s impossible.”
“Do you recognize the company?”
“No.”
“Have you ever signed corporate formation documents?”
“No.”
“Have you ever authorized your husband to create a company in your name?”
“No.”
He became quiet.
Then:
“Then we may have another fraud issue.”
My stomach tightened.
“What does Patterson Family Holdings own?”
The detective did not answer immediately.
“Detective?”
“Several real estate assets.”
“How many?”
“According to these documents, eleven.”
Emily’s mouth fell open.
“Eleven properties?”
“Yes.”
I stared at nothing.
Eric and I lived carefully.
Or I thought we did.
I clipped coupons.
We argued about whether replacing the washing machine could wait another year.
He told me private preschool for Olivia might be too expensive.
Eleven properties.
“Whose money bought them?”
“We’re still determining that.”
I already knew.
Client money.
Secret loans.
MBR Consulting.
Maybe money stolen in my name.
Then the detective said, “One property may be particularly relevant.”
“Which one?”
“The yellow house where Rose was living.”
My entire body went cold.
“Who owns it?”
“Patterson Family Holdings.”
I closed my eyes.
On paper, half of the house where Rose had been hidden belonged to me.
I had never known it existed.
If investigators looked only at documents, I did not look like Eric’s victim.
I looked like his partner.
That was why he forged my signature.
That was why he put assets in my name.
That was why he had warned me to stop.
If he fell, he had built paperwork designed to pull me down with him.
“He set me up.”
The detective did not respond directly.
But his silence was enough.
Eric had not merely stolen.
He had constructed an escape route.
And I was standing at the end of it.
The detective asked me not to access or move any joint funds and said investigators would need formal statements.
I agreed.
Then I asked, “Can you tell Susan I need to speak to her?”
“She’s being interviewed.”
“Please tell her Natalie says not to protect Eric anymore.”
“I can pass that along.”
The call ended.
Mae sat beside Caleb.
He would not look at her.
Emily stood near the window.
Nobody knew what to say.
Then my phone buzzed.
A location notification.
I stared at it.
“What?” Emily asked.
“Our family tracking app.”
Eric and I had installed it when we started trying for a baby.
He always complained that it drained his battery.
Months ago he turned location sharing off.
Now, for some reason, his phone had appeared again.
Maybe he had reactivated it by accident.
Maybe his car system had synced.
Maybe panic made even careful men careless.
His location was moving.
Fast.
Not toward the cabin.
Not toward our house.
Not toward Mae’s apartment.
Toward the hospital.
“He’s coming back.”
The security officer immediately radioed downstairs.
Mae stood.
Caleb looked frightened.
I opened the map.
Eric was eight minutes away.
Then seven.
Six.
Caroline said, “Security will stop him.”
I looked at the tracking dot.
It reached the hospital.
Then stopped.
Five minutes passed.
The security officer received a message.
“He hasn’t entered the main lobby.”
“Where is he?”
They checked cameras.
No Eric.
His car was in the parking garage.
Empty.
The officer’s expression changed.
“He may have entered through another building.”
Hospital security started searching.
My pulse hammered.
Mae moved closer to Caleb.
Emily locked the room door even though Caroline told her staff might need access.
Then the lights flickered.
Once.
Twice.
Stayed on.
Caleb whispered, “He knows the hospital.”
“Why?”
“Grandma was treated here last year.”
That did not help.
My phone rang.
Eric.
I declined.
Another call.
Declined.
Then a text:
YOU SHOULD HAVE LET ME EXPLAIN.
I showed the officer.
Another:
NOW EVERYONE LOSES.
Mae whispered, “What does that mean?”
Then:
ESPECIALLY DANIEL.
My blood chilled.
I called Detective Ramos immediately.
Before he answered, another message appeared.
Eric:
ASK DANIEL WHAT HAPPENED THE NIGHT ROSE WAS CONCEIVED.
I stopped.
Mae saw it.
Her face changed.
“No.”
“What?”
She shook her head.
“No.”
“What aren’t you telling me?”
“Nothing.”
“Mae.”
She backed away.
“The night with Daniel…”
“What?”
“I don’t remember all of it.”
Caleb stared at her.
Mae looked sick.
“I told you I was drinking.”
“Yes.”
“I remember one drink.”
“One?”
“At Daniel’s house.”
Her breathing quickened.
“I remember him pouring wine.”
“Then?”
“Pieces.”
She pressed both hands to her forehead.
“His couch. Waking up. Eric calling me the next morning.”
My stomach turned.
“Did you consent to being with Daniel?”
Mae looked at me.
Her answer came in a whisper.
“I always thought I had.”
Nobody moved.
Then:
“I don’t know anymore.”
Caleb looked away.
I wanted him removed from the conversation immediately.
Caroline seemed to think the same thing.
She guided him toward the far side of the room with Emily.
Mae lowered her voice.
“Years later Eric said something strange.”
“What?”
“We were fighting. He said, ‘You still don’t know what Daniel did to you.’”
My skin crawled.
“What did you think he meant?”
“I thought he meant Daniel used me to hurt Eric.”
“Did you ever ask Daniel?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because Eric told me Daniel denied we were ever together.”
That made no sense.
If Daniel was Caleb’s biological father, something happened.
And Eric had proof.
DNA proof.
Why hide it?
Why protect Daniel?
Unless that night was another secret they could use against each other.
My phone rang.
Detective Ramos.
I answered.
“Detective, Eric may be at the hospital.”
“We’ve been notified.”
“There’s something you need to ask Daniel.”
“What?”
I looked at Mae.
She nodded weakly.
“Ask him what happened the night Caleb was conceived.”
Silence.
Then the detective said, “Mrs. Patterson, why?”
“Because Mae believes she may not remember the night accurately.”
His tone changed immediately.
“I understand.”
“Ask Daniel before anyone tells him we’re asking.”
“I will.”
Then I heard someone speaking to him in the background.
The detective said, “Hold on.”
Muffled voices.
A door.
Then:
“Mrs. Patterson?”
“Yes?”
“You also need to know Susan has changed her statement.”
My heart hammered.
“About what?”
“About Rose?”
“About nearly everything.”
“What is she saying?”
“That Eric did not create the plan to conceal Rose alone.”
“Daniel?”
“Yes.”
“That’s not new.”
“No. But Mrs. Patterson claims a third person was involved.”
I looked around the room.
“Who?”
“She hasn’t given us the name yet.”
“Why?”
“She says she’ll only tell you.”
I frowned.
“Me?”
“Yes.”
“Why me?”
“She says you’re the only person who will understand why.”
Before I could respond, someone pounded on my hospital room door.
Three hard knocks.
Every person in the room froze.
Security stepped forward.
“Who is it?”
No answer.
Another knock.
Then a woman’s voice.
“Natalie?”
I recognized it.
Laura.
I exhaled.
The security officer checked through the narrow window.
Then opened the door.
Laura stood there.
Older than I remembered.
Same sharp Patterson eyes.
Rain on her coat.
Beside her was a man around sixty with silver hair and a leather folder pressed against his chest.
I had never seen him before.
Laura looked at me.
Then at Mae.
Then Caleb.
Then Olivia.
Her eyes filled.
“I’m sorry it took me this long.”
I stared at the man beside her.
“Who is he?”
Laura stepped aside.
The man entered.
He looked directly at me.
“My name is Dr. Samuel Keene.”
Mae’s face changed instantly.
She stood so fast the chair fell backward.
“No.”
The man looked at her.
“Mae.”
She backed against the wall.
“No.”
Caleb looked between them.
“Mom?”
Mae pointed at the man with a shaking hand.
“He worked at the hospital.”
“What hospital?” I asked.
“When Rose was born.”
Every muscle in my body tightened.
Dr. Keene swallowed.
“I was the attending neonatologist.”
Mae’s face crumpled.
“You told me she was improving.”
“She was.”
“You let me believe she died.”
“No.”
“You disappeared.”
“I was removed from her case.”
“By whom?”
He looked at Laura.
Then at me.
“Daniel Mercer.”
I frowned.
“How can a businessman remove a doctor from a hospital case?”
Dr. Keene opened the leather folder.
“Because Daniel wasn’t just a businessman.”
He placed a document on the table.
A hospital board roster from seven years earlier.
Daniel Mercer.
Vice Chairman.
Mae whispered, “Oh my God.”
Dr. Keene continued.
“Daniel donated millions to the hospital foundation. He knew administrators. He knew attorneys. He knew exactly how to make problems disappear.”
“Why are you here now?”
“Because Laura found me six months ago.”
Laura nodded.
“I needed someone who could prove Rose left that NICU alive.”
Dr. Keene opened the folder.
Inside were copies of medical notes.
“She was discharged alive.”
“We know.”
“No.”
He shook his head.
“You know she was discharged. You don’t know what happened before that.”
Mae stepped closer.
“What happened?”
Dr. Keene looked ashamed.
“A blood sample was taken from Rose without my authorization.”
“For DNA?”
“Yes.”
“By Daniel?”
“I don’t know who physically collected it.”
“What did the test show?”
He took out another page.
“Eric was Rose’s father.”
“We found that report.”
Dr. Keene shook his head again.
“No. That was the second test.”
My heart stopped.
“The second?”
“The first test compared Rose to someone else.”
“Who?”
He looked directly at Mae.
“Daniel.”
Mae stared at him.
“And?”
Dr. Keene’s eyes lowered.
“Daniel Mercer was also genetically related to Rose.”
The room went completely silent.
“That’s impossible,” Emily whispered.
I felt ice spread through my chest.
Eric was Rose’s father.
Daniel was genetically related to Rose.
That could happen if Daniel was related to Eric.
But they were supposedly friends.
Business partners.
Nothing more.
Laura began crying.
I looked at her.
She already knew.
“Laura.”
She covered her mouth.
“Tell me.”
She shook her head.
“Tell me.”
Finally she whispered:
“Daniel isn’t Eric’s friend.”
My skin prickled.
“What is he?”
Laura looked at Caleb.
Then at Mae.
Then at me.
“He’s Eric’s biological father.”
Nobody spoke.
Not one person.
I thought of Daniel at our wedding.
Daniel at Christmas.
Daniel hugging Eric.
Eric calling him his oldest friend.
Susan going pale when Mae’s name came up.
The money.
The blackmail.
The DNA reports.
The impossible web of relationships suddenly tightening into something even uglier.
Daniel was Eric’s father.
Which meant if Daniel was genetically related to Rose, the test might have been consistent with him being her grandfather.
And if Caleb’s test showed Daniel as his father…
I looked at Mae.
She understood at the exact same moment.
Her face became pure horror.
“No.”
Dr. Keene looked confused.
“What?”
Mae backed away.
“No.”
I could barely make myself say it.
“If Daniel is Eric’s biological father…”
Laura whispered, “Yes.”
“And Daniel is Caleb’s biological father…”
Nobody finished the sentence.
Caleb was not merely connected to Eric through some affair.
Daniel had fathered a child with the woman his own son had been dating.
My stomach turned.
Mae collapsed into the chair.
“I didn’t know.”
Laura rushed toward her.
Mae slapped her hand away.
“You knew.”
“Not then.”
“You knew something!”
“I knew Daniel was Eric’s father. I didn’t know about you.”
Mae started sobbing.
“Why did Susan hide that?”
Laura laughed bitterly.
“Because our entire family was built on that secret.”
I stared at her.
“Explain.”
Laura looked toward Olivia.
Then at me.
“Eric and I grew up believing Robert Patterson was our father.”
I remembered Robert.
Susan’s late husband.
Quiet.
Kind.
He died five years into my marriage.
“Wasn’t he?”
“He was mine.”
Laura swallowed.
“Not Eric’s.”
“Did Eric know?”
“Since he was seventeen.”
“And Daniel?”
“Always.”
“Why pretend to be his friend?”
“Because Robert threatened to leave Susan if Daniel ever publicly claimed him.”
“This was decades ago.”
“Yes.”
“So why keep pretending after Robert died?”
Laura’s expression hardened.
“Because by then the secret was useful.”
“Useful how?”
“Daniel built Eric’s career. Eric helped Daniel hide money. Susan kept both of them from destroying each other.”
A family held together by mutually assured destruction.
Then Dr. Keene said something quietly.
“Laura, you haven’t told her the rest.”
Laura closed her eyes.
“What rest?” I asked.
“Natalie—”
“No.”
I was done with that word.
“Tell me.”
She looked at Mae.
Then at me.
“Daniel did not come to the NICU only because of Rose.”
“Why else?”
“He wanted the newborn DNA samples.”
“Whose?”
“Rose’s.”
“Why?”
“To prove Eric was his son.”
I frowned.
“That doesn’t make sense. Testing Rose wouldn’t prove—”
Then I stopped.
Unless Daniel already had Eric’s DNA.
Unless Rose was a bridge in a family relationship analysis.
Laura nodded.
“He wanted legal proof that Eric was biologically his before changing his estate.”
“His estate?”
“Daniel is worth far more than Eric ever told you.”
“How much?”
“I don’t know exactly. Hundreds of millions.”
Emily whispered something under her breath.
Laura continued.
“Daniel has no acknowledged children.”
Except Eric.
His secret son.
A man he had hidden for decades.
A man who could inherit everything if proved.
Suddenly the financial crimes looked different.
Not smaller.
More dangerous.
Eric had not just been stealing.
He may have been positioning himself to inherit.
“What does this have to do with Rose?”
“Daniel discovered through Rose’s test that Eric was definitely his biological son.”
“And then?”
“He changed his will.”
“To Eric?”
Laura shook her head.
“To a trust.”
“For whom?”
“Eric’s biological descendants.”
The room became completely still.
Caleb.
Rose.
Olivia.
Three children.
Except Caleb was not Eric’s biological child.
Rose was.
Olivia presumably was.
Daniel’s fortune depended on blood.
My blood went cold.
“That’s why Eric tested Caleb.”
Laura nodded.
“He needed to know whether Caleb qualified.”
“And he didn’t.”
“No.”
“That’s why Rose matters.”
“Yes.”
“And Olivia.”
Laura looked at my sleeping daughter.
“Yes.”
I suddenly wanted to tear every wire out of the wall.
The changed birth certificate.
The genetic test order after Olivia’s birth.
Maybe Eric had not been proving something sentimental to Mae.
Maybe he had been proving Olivia’s eligibility for a fortune.
“What is the trust worth?”
Laura whispered, “At least one hundred and eighty million dollars.”
Mae gasped.
I felt nothing.
Too many numbers had stopped meaning anything tonight.
Eleven properties.
Two hundred thousand in secret payments.
A forged home equity line.
Seventy-five thousand to Daniel.
Now one hundred and eighty million.
But one thing mattered.
“My daughter is twelve hours old.”
Laura nodded.
“And Eric already tried to collect her DNA.”
“Yes.”
“Why would he need it immediately?”
Laura went quiet.
Dr. Keene answered instead.
“Because Daniel changed the trust again.”
“When?”
“Last month.”
My heart hammered.
“What changed?”
Dr. Keene looked toward Laura.
She said:
“The trust becomes irrevocable when Daniel dies.”
I stared at her.
“So?”
Laura’s face had gone pale.
“Daniel told Eric last week that he was removing him as trustee.”
Every hair on my arms stood.
“Why?”
“He discovered money missing from one of the trust accounts.”
“Eric?”
“Yes.”
“How much?”
“Nearly nine million.”
Mae whispered, “Nine million?”
Laura nodded.
“Daniel gave Eric until Friday to restore it.”
Friday.
The first Friday after Olivia’s birth.
“What happens if he can’t?”
“He’s removed. Authorities are notified.”
I looked at Olivia.
Eric needed money.
He had taken our home equity.
He had moved funds.
He had forged documents.
And he needed proof of his biological children.
“Could Eric access the trust through Rose or Olivia?”
“As their parent and guardian, potentially, depending on the trust terms.”
My body went cold.
If I remained his wife.
If he controlled Olivia.
If Susan controlled Rose.
Eric controlled access to two heirs.
That was what this had become.
Not just affairs.
Not just family secrets.
Money.
A fortune tied to children.
And everyone around them fighting over who controlled the paperwork.
The security officer’s radio crackled.
He listened.
Then immediately reached for the door.
“What?”
“Hospital security spotted Mr. Patterson.”
My pulse jumped.
“Where?”
“Third floor.”
“This floor?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“He used a service elevator.”
Caroline moved toward Olivia.
Emily moved toward me.
Mae pulled Caleb behind her.
The officer radioed for backup.
Then the lights went out.
Complete darkness.
Someone screamed.
Emergency lights came on two seconds later, bathing the room in dim red.
Olivia began crying.
I pulled her against my chest.
“Lock the door!”
“It is locked,” the officer said.
Someone rattled the handle from outside.
Hard.
Once.
Twice.
Then stopped.
My phone buzzed in my hand.
Eric.
One message.
I opened it.
I NEVER WANTED YOU INVOLVED IN THIS.
Then:
GIVE ME OLIVIA AND I’LL MAKE SURE YOU WALK AWAY CLEAN.
My blood turned to ice.
Another message.
THE PROPERTY FRAUD. THE LOANS. THE CLIENT ACCOUNTS. ALL OF IT CAN DISAPPEAR.
Emily read over my shoulder.
“He’s admitting it.”
I screenshot everything.
Then the final message arrived:
BUT IF YOU KEEP HER FROM ME, YOUR NAME STAYS ON EVERY DOCUMENT.
There it was.
Blackmail.
Clear.
Written.
I handed the phone to the security officer.
“Send that to police.”
He photographed the screen.
Then there was another knock.
Not Eric’s pounding.
Soft.
Three taps.
A male voice.
“Hospital security.”
Our officer did not open.
“Identification.”
The man outside gave a name and code.
Our officer verified it over radio.
Only then did he unlock the door.
Two security officers rushed inside.
“Eric Patterson was seen entering the stairwell.”
“Which direction?”
“Up.”
“He’s not coming here?”
“We don’t know.”
Then my phone rang again.
Detective Ramos.
I answered.
“Mrs. Patterson, Daniel Mercer just told us something that changes our search.”
My stomach tightened.
“What?”
“He says Eric called him ten minutes ago.”
“What did he say?”
“He demanded Daniel sign something.”
“What?”
“A revised trust authorization.”
“Why?”
“To recognize Olivia as a beneficiary immediately.”
I looked down at my crying daughter.
“Why immediately?”
“Daniel refused.”
“And?”
The detective hesitated.
“Eric threatened to expose what Daniel did to Mae.”
Mae covered her mouth.
The room went silent.
Detective Ramos continued.
“Daniel is now requesting an attorney, but before he stopped talking, he said something we need to verify.”
“What?”
“He says Eric isn’t trying to escape.”
“Then what is he doing?”
“He believes Eric came to the hospital for a document.”
“What document?”
“I don’t know.”
Laura suddenly went pale.
“No.”
We all looked at her.
“What?”
“The birth acknowledgment.”
“What about it?”
“If Eric signs a voluntary acknowledgment of paternity for Olivia before Natalie challenges it—”
I interrupted.
“He’s already her father. We’re married.”
Laura shook her head.
“Not for what he needs.”
“What does he need?”
“A specific trust certification requires independently acknowledged biological parentage.”
My stomach dropped.
“He needs my signature?”
“Yes.”
“Then he won’t get it.”
Laura looked terrified.
“He doesn’t necessarily need your real signature.”
I stared at her.
The forged loan.
Patterson Family Holdings.
My name on properties I had never seen.
Of course.
“He came here to forge it.”
“Or take the original documents and replace them.”
I looked toward the hospital paperwork.
Denise had corrected Olivia’s birth record.
The forms.
The signatures.
The patient chart.
Everything was somewhere in this building.
Eric had come back not for me.
Not for Olivia.
For paperwork.
I called Caroline.
“Where are the original birth certificate worksheets?”
“Health Information Management.”
“Where?”
She froze.
“Fourth floor.”
We all looked upward.
Eric had gone up the stairwell.
Not toward Room 318.
Toward the fourth floor.
“Call them.”
Caroline dialed.
No answer.
Again.
Nothing.
The security officer shouted into his radio.
“Units to fourth-floor records immediately.”
My phone buzzed.
Laura.
But she was standing beside me.
I looked at the screen.
The message had come from the anonymous thread she had been using earlier.
Only she had not sent it.
Her face went white.
“My phone.”
“What?”
“I left my second phone in the car.”
Another message appeared.
From Laura’s anonymous number:
TOO LATE.
Then a photograph.
A sheet of paper.
Olivia Mae Patterson.
My forged signature at the bottom.
And beneath it:
Acknowledged biological father: Eric Michael Patterson.
Time stamped 10:57 p.m.
Mae whispered, “How did he get that?”
Caroline stared at the image.
“That is an internal hospital document.”
The security officer’s radio exploded with voices.
“Fourth floor breach.”
“Male suspect moving west corridor.”
“Records room accessed.”
Then:
“He’s running.”
We could hear shouting somewhere above us.
Footsteps.
A distant alarm.
Then silence.
My phone rang.
Not Eric.
Detective Ramos.
I answered.
Before I could speak, he said:
“Mrs. Patterson, Susan just gave us the third person’s name.”
I looked at Laura.
Dr. Keene.
Mae.
Everyone waited.
“Who?”
The detective paused.
Then:
“Your husband wasn’t the person who originally selected the name Mae for Olivia.”
My skin prickled.
“What are you talking about?”
“Susan says Eric was instructed to use it.”
“By whom?”
Another crash sounded somewhere in the hallway above.
The detective said:
“Daniel Mercer.”
Mae whispered, “Why would Daniel choose my name?”
The detective answered something none of us expected.
“He says it wasn’t your name.”
The room went silent.
“What?”
“Mae wasn’t meant to honor Maeve Billing.”
My grip tightened around the phone.
“Then whose name was it?”
Susan’s voice suddenly came through in the background.
She must have taken the detective’s phone.
“Natalie.”
“Susan?”
“I should have told you when Eric proposed.”
“Told me what?”
She began crying.
“That Mae isn’t a name.”
I felt my heart pounding.
“What is it?”
“It’s initials.”
“M.A.E.”
“For what?”
Before Susan could answer, screaming erupted over the security radio.
“They have Patterson!”
“Suspect detained!”
Then another voice:
“Wait—there’s a second man!”
The officer beside me froze.
“A second man?”
Gunfire cracked through the radio.
Mae screamed.
Caleb dropped to the floor.
Emily shielded Olivia and me.
Then only static.
I could barely breathe.
The detective shouted Susan’s name somewhere on the other end.
The line distorted.
I yelled into the phone:
“SUSAN! WHAT DOES M.A.E. STAND FOR?”
She came back, sobbing.
Three words.
Three words that made every secret before them feel small.
“Mercer Asset Estate.”
I stared at Laura.
Her face went blank.
Susan continued.
“It’s the name of Daniel’s trust.”
My blood turned cold.
Olivia Mae had never been about Maeve.
Eric had put the name of a $180 million family trust directly onto our newborn daughter’s birth certificate.
A mark.
A claim.
A beneficiary.
Then Susan whispered:
“And Natalie…Olivia was never supposed to be the first baby with those initials.”
I stopped breathing.
“What do you mean?”
Susan began crying harder.
“Rose’s legal middle name was changed too.”
“To what?”
“M.A.E.”
Mae collapsed against the wall.
Then Susan said:
“Eric has been marking every child he believes belongs to the Mercer bloodline.”
The hospital radio crackled again.
One voice came through clearly.
“We have Eric Patterson in custody.”
Relief hit me.
For half a second.
Then the officer continued:
“Second male suspect fled through the east stairwell.”
I looked at Laura.
“Who?”
Nobody knew.
Until Dr. Keene slowly backed away from us.
His face had gone white.
Laura stared at him.
“Samuel?”
He said nothing.
“Samuel, who is the second man?”
Dr. Keene looked toward Olivia.
Then toward the door.
And whispered:
“I think I know.”
My phone buzzed one final time.
A photograph appeared from an unknown number.
Not Eric.
Not Laura.
Not Susan.
It showed the inside of my own house.
My bedroom.
My dresser.
And sitting on top was the pink blanket my mother Rosalind had crocheted—the blanket I had packed for Olivia and thought was still somewhere in the hospital.
Under the photograph:
ERIC ISN’T THE ONLY ONE WHO HAS BEEN WATCHING YOUR FAMILY.
Then another message:
ASK YOUR MOTHER WHY DANIEL MERCER KNEW THE NAME ROSALIND BEFORE ERIC EVER MET YOU.
I stared at the words.
My mother had been dead for twenty-four years.
And suddenly, for the first time that night, the secret did not begin with Eric.
It began with her……………
TO BE CONTINUED IN PART 6…
